Dawson Tells Of His Role Under Oath

Dawson Tells
Of His Role
Under Oath
WINSTON-SALEM — For the first
time, Edward Dawson told his story under
oath Thursday.
Dawson, a Greensboro carpenter, was an
informant for the Greensboro Police Department in 1979. In that capacity, he led a
caravan of Ku Klux Klansmen and neo-
Nazis to a bloody confrontation with anti-
Klan demonstrators that left five dead in
southeast Greensboro.
The case resulted in the longest criminal
trial in state history in 1980, yet Thursday
was the first time Dawson had testified in
the case.
For most of the day, he was before a federal grand jury, telling them of his role in
the Nov. 3, 1979, shooting deaths. The
grand jury is investigating whether federal
civil rights charges should be brought in
the case.
In 1980, Dawson refused to cooperate
with state prosecutors who wanted him to
appear as a rebuttal witness. Six Klansmen
and Nazis eventually were acquitted of
murder and rioting charges.
But Thursday, Dawson arrived with a
briefcase stuffed with newspaper clippings,
handwritten notes and letters, left- and
right-wing literature, a tape recorder and
several cassettes.
"There's nothing they can ask me that I
will refuse to answer," he said. He said
he'd sat up late the previous few nights,
reviewing his material. His testimony took
most of the day.
Dawson &bb£j
In the 1960s and '70s, Dawson was a
Klan member and an informant for the
FBI. He was neither at the time of the
| 1979 shootings.
Dawson said he refused to cooperate
with state prosecutors in 1980, because his
former role as an FBI informant had not
yet been exposed publicly.
During his years with the Klan, Dawson
said he had served as a "liaison" between
police and the Klan.
Dawson said he told police — with the
Klan's knowledge — whenever the Klan
was planning a local rally, to make sure the
gathering broke no laws.
By 1979, Dawson said, he had quit the
Klan but continued to provide information
to police. In the weeks prior to the Nov. 3
shootings, he was paid twice for information he gave to the Greensboro Police Department.
Dawson spoke at a Lincoln County Klan
meeting two weeks prior to the shootings.
A few Klansmen later charged in the case
joined the Klan at that meeting.
On Nov. 3, Dawson was in the lead truck
of a nine-vehicle Klan-Nazi caravan to Everitt Street and Carver Drive, the starting
point for a planned "Death to the Klan" rally, sponsored by the Communist Workers
Party. A fight broke out between the two
groups, followed by 88 seconds of gunfire
that killed five CWP members.
Two days before the shootings, Dawson
had obtained a copy of the CWP's parade
permit, a matter of public record, from the
Greensboro Police Department. It listed
the planned route for the CWP's march.
The CWP and its supporters claim Dawson was part of an elaborate government
conspiracy to murder the Communists'
leadership. Dawson denies this but says
police should have been at the rally site
prior to the caravan's arrival.
Before his testimony, Dawson talked
with reporters for about two hours. He
(See Dawson: B-2, Col. 1) ^
t-t o
M O
CO O
In mid-October, after the CWP announced plans for the Nov. 3 rally, Dawson's Greensboro police contact asked
him whether the Klan planned to attend
the rally.
Meanwhile, Virgil Griffin, a Klan leader in western North Carolina, had read
about the planned CWP rally in a Charlotte newspaper.
Soon afterward, Griffin talked with
Dawson by phone, inviting Dawson to attend an Oct. 20 Klan rally at the Lincoln
County Fairgrounds.
"When I talked to the police, they
said, 'Well, can you go?' " Dawson recalled. "I said yes."
Immediately after the Oct. 20 rally,
Dawson spoke before a closed Klan
meeting attended by about 80 people. He
said he told the group about the CWP's
planned march and asked how many
planned to attend. He said 60 hands
went up.
! When Klansmen asked if they should
1 take weapons, Dawson said, he told
j them, "I am not your father. I cannot tell
i you what to do." He said the police
! would be at the CWP rally for protec-
' tion, joined possibly by the National
Guard.
After talking further "with Griffin,
Dawson reported back to the police department. He said "approximately 200"
Klansmen would be coming to the Nov. 3
rally.
Dawson was paid $50 for that information. Earlier, he said, the police had paid
him $25 to attend a meeting of the Revolutionary Communist Party in Greensboro.
On Nov. 1, Dawson again met with his
police contact. He said that, as he was
leaving, one of the officers pulled him
aside and said, '"Hey, Ed, did you know
the starting point (of the march) has
been changed?' No, I had no idea. He
said to look at a copy of the (parade)
permit.
"And that's how Eddie Dawson ended
up with a copy of the parade permit."
Dawson declined to identify the officer
who told him of the change in sites.
The CWP initially had advertised its
march as beginning at 11 a.m. at the
Windsor Community Center on East Lee
Street. On the parade permit, the rally
was listed as beginning at noon at Everitt Street and Carver Drive.
After obtaining the parade permit,
Dawson said, he left the police department to observe a CWP press conference
at the adjoining goverment plaza, where
plans for the rally were being publicized.
Afterward, Dawson again reported to
his police contacts.
On Nov. 3, Dawson said, he met with
Klansmen Griffin, Jerry Paul Smith and
Coleman Blair Pridmore at about 3 a.m.
at an all-night restaurant in Greensboro.
He said Smith, who later was charged in
the shootings, had a Magnum pistol; and
Griffin had a small-caliber pistol.
Several hours later, Dawson said, he
called Greensboro detective Jerry Cooper at Cooper's house. Dawson reported
the guns he had seen and told Cooper he
was headed for a house on U.S. 220
South, where the caravan was to assemble.
At mid-morning, Dawson returned to
his home and called Cooper again, telling
him that 12 to 14 people already had
gathered at the house on 220 South.
Dawson said the caravan left that
house shortly after 11 a.m. Dawson rode
in a pick-up truck at the head of the
caravan.
He said he had only looked at one side
of the CWP parade permit and didn't
know the march's starting time had been
moved back an hour to noon.
"I expected fully that (the CWP)
would be gone and marching by (the time
the caravan left)," he said.
Dawson said Cooper followed the caravan in an unmarked car. He said he
couldn't understand why no police were
at the rally site.
Dawson said the Klansmen and Nazis
planned to follow the CWP's parade
route until they located the marchers.
He said they wanted to heckle the demonstrators, then continue to the end of
the planned route to await the marchers
for more heckling.
After passing the demonstrators,
Dawson saw cars slowing towards the
rear of the caravan. "I said, 'They're
stopping, what the hell are they stopping
for?' The last thing I saw was a car jerking along, like they were trying to move
people out away from the car."
Dawson said he left the scene when he
heard shots fired. At the time, he said,
he had no idea anyone had been hurt.

Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.

Dawson Tells
Of His Role
Under Oath
WINSTON-SALEM — For the first
time, Edward Dawson told his story under
oath Thursday.
Dawson, a Greensboro carpenter, was an
informant for the Greensboro Police Department in 1979. In that capacity, he led a
caravan of Ku Klux Klansmen and neo-
Nazis to a bloody confrontation with anti-
Klan demonstrators that left five dead in
southeast Greensboro.
The case resulted in the longest criminal
trial in state history in 1980, yet Thursday
was the first time Dawson had testified in
the case.
For most of the day, he was before a federal grand jury, telling them of his role in
the Nov. 3, 1979, shooting deaths. The
grand jury is investigating whether federal
civil rights charges should be brought in
the case.
In 1980, Dawson refused to cooperate
with state prosecutors who wanted him to
appear as a rebuttal witness. Six Klansmen
and Nazis eventually were acquitted of
murder and rioting charges.
But Thursday, Dawson arrived with a
briefcase stuffed with newspaper clippings,
handwritten notes and letters, left- and
right-wing literature, a tape recorder and
several cassettes.
"There's nothing they can ask me that I
will refuse to answer," he said. He said
he'd sat up late the previous few nights,
reviewing his material. His testimony took
most of the day.
Dawson &bb£j
In the 1960s and '70s, Dawson was a
Klan member and an informant for the
FBI. He was neither at the time of the
| 1979 shootings.
Dawson said he refused to cooperate
with state prosecutors in 1980, because his
former role as an FBI informant had not
yet been exposed publicly.
During his years with the Klan, Dawson
said he had served as a "liaison" between
police and the Klan.
Dawson said he told police — with the
Klan's knowledge — whenever the Klan
was planning a local rally, to make sure the
gathering broke no laws.
By 1979, Dawson said, he had quit the
Klan but continued to provide information
to police. In the weeks prior to the Nov. 3
shootings, he was paid twice for information he gave to the Greensboro Police Department.
Dawson spoke at a Lincoln County Klan
meeting two weeks prior to the shootings.
A few Klansmen later charged in the case
joined the Klan at that meeting.
On Nov. 3, Dawson was in the lead truck
of a nine-vehicle Klan-Nazi caravan to Everitt Street and Carver Drive, the starting
point for a planned "Death to the Klan" rally, sponsored by the Communist Workers
Party. A fight broke out between the two
groups, followed by 88 seconds of gunfire
that killed five CWP members.
Two days before the shootings, Dawson
had obtained a copy of the CWP's parade
permit, a matter of public record, from the
Greensboro Police Department. It listed
the planned route for the CWP's march.
The CWP and its supporters claim Dawson was part of an elaborate government
conspiracy to murder the Communists'
leadership. Dawson denies this but says
police should have been at the rally site
prior to the caravan's arrival.
Before his testimony, Dawson talked
with reporters for about two hours. He
(See Dawson: B-2, Col. 1) ^
t-t o
M O
CO O
In mid-October, after the CWP announced plans for the Nov. 3 rally, Dawson's Greensboro police contact asked
him whether the Klan planned to attend
the rally.
Meanwhile, Virgil Griffin, a Klan leader in western North Carolina, had read
about the planned CWP rally in a Charlotte newspaper.
Soon afterward, Griffin talked with
Dawson by phone, inviting Dawson to attend an Oct. 20 Klan rally at the Lincoln
County Fairgrounds.
"When I talked to the police, they
said, 'Well, can you go?' " Dawson recalled. "I said yes."
Immediately after the Oct. 20 rally,
Dawson spoke before a closed Klan
meeting attended by about 80 people. He
said he told the group about the CWP's
planned march and asked how many
planned to attend. He said 60 hands
went up.
! When Klansmen asked if they should
1 take weapons, Dawson said, he told
j them, "I am not your father. I cannot tell
i you what to do." He said the police
! would be at the CWP rally for protec-
' tion, joined possibly by the National
Guard.
After talking further "with Griffin,
Dawson reported back to the police department. He said "approximately 200"
Klansmen would be coming to the Nov. 3
rally.
Dawson was paid $50 for that information. Earlier, he said, the police had paid
him $25 to attend a meeting of the Revolutionary Communist Party in Greensboro.
On Nov. 1, Dawson again met with his
police contact. He said that, as he was
leaving, one of the officers pulled him
aside and said, '"Hey, Ed, did you know
the starting point (of the march) has
been changed?' No, I had no idea. He
said to look at a copy of the (parade)
permit.
"And that's how Eddie Dawson ended
up with a copy of the parade permit."
Dawson declined to identify the officer
who told him of the change in sites.
The CWP initially had advertised its
march as beginning at 11 a.m. at the
Windsor Community Center on East Lee
Street. On the parade permit, the rally
was listed as beginning at noon at Everitt Street and Carver Drive.
After obtaining the parade permit,
Dawson said, he left the police department to observe a CWP press conference
at the adjoining goverment plaza, where
plans for the rally were being publicized.
Afterward, Dawson again reported to
his police contacts.
On Nov. 3, Dawson said, he met with
Klansmen Griffin, Jerry Paul Smith and
Coleman Blair Pridmore at about 3 a.m.
at an all-night restaurant in Greensboro.
He said Smith, who later was charged in
the shootings, had a Magnum pistol; and
Griffin had a small-caliber pistol.
Several hours later, Dawson said, he
called Greensboro detective Jerry Cooper at Cooper's house. Dawson reported
the guns he had seen and told Cooper he
was headed for a house on U.S. 220
South, where the caravan was to assemble.
At mid-morning, Dawson returned to
his home and called Cooper again, telling
him that 12 to 14 people already had
gathered at the house on 220 South.
Dawson said the caravan left that
house shortly after 11 a.m. Dawson rode
in a pick-up truck at the head of the
caravan.
He said he had only looked at one side
of the CWP parade permit and didn't
know the march's starting time had been
moved back an hour to noon.
"I expected fully that (the CWP)
would be gone and marching by (the time
the caravan left)," he said.
Dawson said Cooper followed the caravan in an unmarked car. He said he
couldn't understand why no police were
at the rally site.
Dawson said the Klansmen and Nazis
planned to follow the CWP's parade
route until they located the marchers.
He said they wanted to heckle the demonstrators, then continue to the end of
the planned route to await the marchers
for more heckling.
After passing the demonstrators,
Dawson saw cars slowing towards the
rear of the caravan. "I said, 'They're
stopping, what the hell are they stopping
for?' The last thing I saw was a car jerking along, like they were trying to move
people out away from the car."
Dawson said he left the scene when he
heard shots fired. At the time, he said,
he had no idea anyone had been hurt.